User blog:GlitterInformer/Smile Pretty Cure!/Glitter Force SDC: Episode 46 (Sub), 38 (Dub)
Return to Episode 45 (Sub), 37 (Dub) | Return to the Table of Contents | Advance to Episode 47 (Sub), 39 (Dub) Japanese title: “The Worst Possible Ending!? Bad End Pretty Cure!!” English title: “The Shadow Force” Three more episodes to go! I don’t know why the English title is "The Shadow Force" instead of "The Glitter Shadow Force", but that doesn’t matter. Let’s dig in! The episode begins differently in the dub than in the sub. The sub starts right off with Pretty Cure reacting in shock to Bad End Pretty Cure, while the dub starts with a quick recap of last time. The beginning of the recap is narrated by Emily, but it consists mostly of dialogue from last episode. 46 01 recap 1.png|Emily: "Last time on Glitter Force!" 46 02 recap 2.png|Candy: "Help! Emily!" 46 03 recap 3.png|Rascal: "That obnoxious little pixie is the Miracle Jewel!" 46 04 recap 4.png|Brooha, Ulric, and Brute: *gasp* 46 05 recap 5.png|Rascal: "The ultimate weapon is at last within our reach!" 46 06 recap 6.png|Rascal: "We'll make this the day we finally see our master revived." 46 07 recap 7.png|Pop: "Get ready for it, Glitter Force! It's the final battle!" 46 08 recap 8.png|Emily: "We're ready, Pop." The odd part is that some of it matches with the original footage, while other parts don't. First of all, Ulric, Brute, and Brooha had speaking lines instead of just gasping. Second, while Rascal did say, "The ultimate weapon is at last within our reach!" and "...we'll make this the day we finally see our master revived," the lines don't occur one after the other, and the former line is over different footage. Everything else (other than the narration, of course) is the same in both the last episode and the flashback. After the flashback, the dub joins the sub. The sub starts with Joker giggling, followed by a period of just the background music; the dub has Rascal telling the Glitter Force to say hi to the Glitter Shadow Force and then giggling. The girls are shocked at having clones in both versions, but the dialogue is changed a bit. In the sub, Happy asks, “Bad End Pretty Cure!”, Peace is shocked that the clones exist, March says the clones look just like them, Beauty says the clones aren’t exactly like them, and Sunny says they’re just fakes. In the dub, Lucky and Peace say the clones look just like them, Spring says they have bad haircuts, Breeze tells the girls not to let the clones put them off-guard, and Sunny says they’re “cheap-knock-offs.” Joker says that Bad End Pretty Cure is much different from Pretty Cure, while Rascal says that the Glitter Force is being impolite to the Glitter Shadow Force. Dialogue as the clones walk toward them where Rascal says that they’ll get to know each other very well and find that they’re quite alike. The evil version of Happy/Lucky tells the girls that she loves happiness and that she’s the happiest when other people are unhappy because it makes her feel lucky to be the happy one. I really like how similar this version of Happy/Lucky is to the original Happy/Lucky. In fact, both the sub and the dub have them voiced by the original’s voice actress! Anyway, evil Happy/Lucky makes a heart shape with her hands and blasts the originals. As we see a huge cloud of dust, the sub is silent, while the dub has the girls cry out in pain. We get the opening themes. The, the sub shows the title card. After this, we return to the fight. The originals jump out of the dust cloud with Pop (dialogue is added where Lucky asks if everyone is okay and they say they are), but the clones chase after them and shoot them down (dialogue is added where Spring says, “Bad hair incoming!”). Joker/Rascal uses cards to absorb the girls as they go flying (dialogue is added where Rascal says, “Presto change-o!”). Joker says that Bad End Pretty Cure are war machines unburdened with worry and that they’ll surely defeat Pretty Cure; Rascal says he’s splitting them up into one-on-one fights so it’ll be fair. Happy/Lucky ends up in an alternate universe, filled only with pink air and some floating rocks, one of which she painfully crashes into. Bad Happy/Lucky shoots lasers at her, which she dodges. Dialogue is added where bad Lucky says that Lucky is on her own. In the sub, Happy says that true happiness isn’t enjoying others’ suffering and evil Happy says that it is and that she’ll start with her. In the dub, Lucky says that she doesn’t believe evil Lucky really enjoys hurting others, evil Lucky asks good Lucky to explain why it feels great if that’s true, good Lucky says evil Lucky’s a jerk, and evil Lucky says she is. We cut to the Sunnies. Evil Sunny shoots lasers at good Sunny and rockets past her with laser-powered rocket shoes. Dialogue is added where good Sunny says, “Hey, watch where I’m going – I mean, you’re going!” Evil Cure Sunny says that she’s the sun that’s going to burn the world, while Evil Glitter Sunny says that the sun is capable of burning the whole planet. Evil Sunny tells Sunny that the world only has room for one sun. We then cut to the Peaces. Unlike the Happy/Lucky and Sunny universes, which are minimal, this one is a grassy world filled with huge flowers. Peace falls, screaming, and crashes into a flower. Then, Evil Peace quickly establishes herself as an interesting villain by screaming and falling, too, right on top of Peace. She even apologizes. However, it’s just a ruse. As Peace tries to comfort Evil Peace by touching her shoulder, she gets shocked, and Evil Peace cheers to herself for having tricked her. We cut to the Marches/Springs, whose universe is a cloudy place filled with green arches. The two are already fighting. As they try to outrun each other, dialogue is added where Spring tells Evil Spring to “beat it”. Evil March/Spring then knocks March/Spring over and repeatedly kicks her. Evil March says that the strong are destined to crush the weak, while Evil Spring chides Spring for calling her a phony. A shot of Evil March speaking is removed. 46 09 cut bad end march.png|Evil March: "I will crush anyone who interferes." Evil March says that she will annihilate March in a straight-up bout, while Evil Spring says that they may have powers as strong as life itself, but that life can be cruel. Then, we cut to the Beauties/Breezes, who are fighting under a large moon. Evil Beauty/Breeze has already beaten up Good Beauty/Breeze. In the sub, Evil Beauty references her name by saying that anything that isn’t beautiful shouldn’t exist, and that includes Good Beauty. That Good Beauty, a girl with idealized proportions and an impossibly thin waist, is considered ugly says a lot about this girl’s views of women. Maybe this is a parallel to the real word? Evil Breeze, on the other hand, says that the moon is as cold as the source of their power, but that she’s more powerful than Good Breeze because her heart is even colder. Also, what do you know? Evil Breeze actually has a name, at least according to the subtitles! 46 10 shadow breeze.png|Breeze So cold and untouchable. In case the image isn’t working for you, her name is Shadow Breeze. This likely means that the other four are Shadow Lucky, Shadow Sunny, Shadow Peace, and Shadow Spring. We cut to the real world. Pop runs away from Joker/Rascal, but he knocks him over with a blast from one of his cards. Joker/Rascal tells Pop to give him the Miracle Jewel, but Pop refuses. Joker/Rascal says he’ll defeat Pop either way, and shows him a livestream of the girls being defeated by their clones. As we see all five of them, Joker is silent, while Rascal continues to speak. Pop asks what Joker/Rascal hopes to accomplish with the Miracle Jewel. In the sub, Pop glaring and Joker floating down to talk to him are kept silent; in the dub, Rascal mocks Pop’s “scary face” but says that “looks aren’t everything.” Joker starts by saying that the Miracle Jewel can grant any wish and that it symbolizes hope for Märchenland; Rascal starts by saying that Pop asked him why he would do so much to get the Miracle Jewel and that part of the reason is so that Jubiland doesn’t get it. Joker/Rascal then says that if he got the Miracle Jewel, he wouldn’t wish for anything at all, since Pierrot/Nogo can destroy the world without it. Pop asks why he even needs the Miracle Jewel then, and Joker/Rascal says that in order to obliterate every last hope the world has, he plans to destroy the Miracle Jewel. The sub gives us the eyecatches, which show Princess Peace and Princess March. Then, we return to Pop and Joker/Rascal. Pop is shocked at Joker/Rascal’s motives, and we cut to all the girls being surprised as well. The Sunnies standing in a wave of fire is darkened. 46 11 bad end sunny.png|Cure Sunny: "No way!" 46 12 shadow sunny.png|Glitter Sunny: "Hey, what!?" After we see Sunny, Peace, March/Spring, and Beauty/Breeze, there’s a shot of the girls imagining what will happen to Candy if the Miracle Jewel is destroyed. In the sub, the imagine spot is silent; in the dub, Breeze speaks over it. Additionally, Happy is silent at first, while Lucky gasps. Happy/Lucky runs up to the card that is livestreaming her in order to get out, but Evil Happy/Lucky blocks her path. We then cut back to Pop and Joker/Rascal, the latter of whom is planning to destroy the former along with the Miracle Jewel. As Pop standing between him and it, Joker just laughs, while Rascal says that Pop knows the drill and then says that he doesn’t, but he will. The dub line is a lame pun, since Joker/Rascal forms a drill out of his deck of cards. Joker/Rascal lunges to take out the two, but the Royale Queen/Euphoria comes out of the Royal Clock, knocking Joker/Rascal away. He’s shocked at first, but he starts laughing when he sees her briefly blink out of existence. Joker says that the Royale Queen is already pretty much dead, while Rascal says that Euphoria isn’t really there. I hope this doesn’t become another bowdlerization… We then see March/Spring and Beauty/Breeze fighting again. Beauty/Breeze says they thought that the queen was still in Märchenland/Jubiland. Fortunately, there is no bowdlerization after all; both Joker/Rascal say that the queen is using the last of her power to protect the Miracle Jewel. The queen then reveals that Candy is her daughter and refuses to let Joker/Rascal touch him. Happy/Lucky is shocked, and Joker/Rascal says that Candy being the next queen of Märchenland/Jubiland makes all the powers she has make sense. Joker/Rascal also deduces that the Miracle Jewel doesn’t really grant wishes, and that it’s simply an egg for the queen. Joker also says that Candy will still be a child when she emerges and will be incapable of defeating Pierrot, so he doesn’t even have to destroy the Miracle Jewel anymore. It is unfair that Pop isn’t the new ruler. He’s the older brother and he’s more mature, yet the crown goes to the naive and inexperienced Candy because she’s female, and that automatically makes her a better ruler than Pop. However, this may just be genetics and not sexism. Joker says that he has a royal audience now, while Rascal congratulates Euphoria but says that he’s not intimidated by “Queen Candy”. Then, he summons Bad/Negative Energy from everyone in the world, turning the entire planet into a desert (hello, Heartcatch Pretty Cure!) and rotating the Bad Energy Memory/Wheel of Doom way past its maximum number. I gotta say, the out-of-control clock is kinda intimidating. Joker says that it’s the “countdown to the end of the world”, while Rascal says it’s “the final countdown to the unhappy ending”. Rascal starts speaking earlier and ends his exclamation with a demented cackle. Pretty Cure/the Glitter Force is shocked, allowing their clones to get an even higher upper hand. A lot of dialogue is added in the dub. Sunny cries out as Evil Sunny shoots lasers at her, and Evil Sunny says, “Catch.” Evil Peace tells Peace to look behind her as she shoots a lightning bolt at her and says Peace wouldn’t believe her due to the many tricks she’s played on her. As Evil March/Spring kicks a giant energy ball at March/Spring, Evil March says it’s the end, while Shadow Spring says it’s a penalty kick for the win. Finally, Evil Beauty is silent, while Shadow Breeze grunts. By the way, I’m tired of using the term Evil Name, and since I don’t believe the Japanese version will ever reveal the individual names for Bad End Pretty Cure, I’d like to pause for a bit and say that the Pretty Cure Wiki has names for them. They’re Bad End Happy, Bad End Sunny, Bad End Peace, Bad End March, and Bad End Beauty. We cut to the real world. In the sub, there’s a bit of silence before Joker speaks; in the dub, we start right off with Pop asking Euphoria what to do and Rascal speaking earlier than his Japanese counterpart. Joker/Rascal asks the queen how it feels to have all of her plans ruined, and she says that as long as Pretty Cure/the Glitter Force and Candy don’t give up, there is hope for a happy ending. It should be noted that as she starts to speak, Joker says, “Huh?” while Rascal says, “Really?” The latter line is made weird by the fact that his mouth is clearly shut. Bad End Happy says that once Pierrot revives, they’ll be powerless to stop him, and she laughs at Happy’s despair; Shadow Lucky says she wishes Lucky hadn’t been so quick to give up. Happy/Lucky replies that she hasn’t given up. In the sub, Happy says that she’ll continue to live for tomorrow, Bad End Happy says that there isn’t going to be a tomorrow, and Happy says that isn’t decided yet, and that as long as there’s hope, she will always be Cure Happy. In the dub, Lucky says that she has never given up and that she never will, especially against a fake. Shadow Lucky says that her fighting spirit will make her sad ending even more fun, and Lucky says that there will be no unhappy ending and that she’s the writer of the story since she’s the real Glitter Lucky. Happy/Lucky’s special Cure Décor/Glitter Charm appears again. Oddly, Euphoria’s voice shouts, “Activate Ultra Mode!” when she usually says, “Activate Ultra Power!” After this, we cut to the Sunnies. In the sub, Sunny says that sunny days are great because you can eat lunch with your friends and play outside, and Bad End Sunny says that she’ll burn friendship to a crisp . In the dub, Sunny says that Shadow Sunny doesn’t understand the meaning of her powers; the sun can destroy the Earth, but it would be stupid to think of it as a destructive force. Shadow Sunny tells Sunny not to tell her what she does and doesn’t understand. Bad End/Shadow Sunny shoots fireballs at Sunny, but Sunny blocks them and says that the sun isn’t meant to hurt people. This causes her to go ultra as well. Sunny says that the sun gives warmth and life. Cure Sunny says that she wants to become a sun like that and declares herself Cure Sunny of the brilliant sun; Glitter Sunny says that if Shadow Sunny can’t understand the sun’s true purpose, she doesn’t deserve to call herself Glitter Sunny. We cut to Peace’s Décor/Charm appearing. In the sub, Peace asks if Bad End Peace knows what “Peace” means and says that she wants to share the kindness she got from her family and make the world a peaceful place. Bad End Peace says that world peace is impossible, and Cure Peace says that she’d still like to make the world more peaceful bit by bit, and that’s why she’s Cure Peace. In the dub, she says that she thinks her name is Glitter Peace because her favorite thing other than puppies and kittens is peace, and she invites Shadow Peace to join her in order to bring peace to the world even faster. Shadow Peace refuses because she wants to destroy her, and Peace says that she wanted to not have to fight, but she enthusiastically embraces the idea of clobbering Shadow Peace “to bring peace to the world.” Is this Glitter Force or 1984? We cut to the Marches/Springs. March/Spring is struggling against the laser ball Bad End March/Shadow Spring kicked at her, and Bad End March/Shadow Spring tells her to give up and admit defeat. March/Spring’s response is cut short in the dub. March says that she’ll always try to smile, even when facing great odds, and that she will never admit defeat; Spring simply says that they’re “going into overtime”. Here is the removed footage: 46 13 cut march 1.png|Cure March: "Go ahead and laugh at me, if you want! I don't care what you think of me..." 46 14 cut march 2.png|Cure March: "Even if you are stronger than I am... even if this whole world has fallen apart..." March/Spring goes ultra. March says that as Cure March, her strength shines when she’s in a pinch and that she will always push forward, while Spring says, “This is for the championship, you phony!” This, too, is cut short, and what is kept is darkened. Here is the removed footage: 46 15 cut march 3.png|Cure March: "I am Cure March. The harder you knock me down..." And the darkened footage: 46 16 cure march.png|Cure March: "...the harder I'll press foward, with courage in my heart!" 46 17 glitter spring.png|Glitter Spring: "Okay! This is for the chamionship, you phony!" We cut to the Beauties/Breezes. The original Beauty/Breeze falls to the ground in exhaustion. In the sub, Bad End Beauty continues on about how much more beautiful she is than her, and Beauty says that true beauty lies in a selfless heart. Bad End Beauty says that the heart has nothing to do with it and that the victor is always the strongest and most beautiful. In the dub, Shadow Breeze mocks Breeze for running out of energy and asks if she’s given up. Breeze says that she isn’t, and that her second wind will be stronger than just a tiny breeze. Shadow Breeze doubts that Breeze has the strength to back up her claims. Beauty/Breeze then goes ultra. Beauty says that a noble, selfless heart is as beautiful as the falling snow and that as Cure Beauty, her duty is to protect those hearts; Breeze says that her using her powers for good instead of evil doesn’t make her too weak to defeat Evil Breeze and her allies. We cut to the Happies/Luckies. Bad End Happy/Shadow Lucky uses her attack. Name Change: Bad End Happy’s attack is called Bad End Shower. Shadow Lucky’s is Shadow Force Heartbreaker. I’m glad that Glitter Force is coming up with new names instead of just copy-pasting like the original. Happy/Lucky responds with Happy Shower/Sparkle Storm Shining. Thankfully, unlike in its debut episode, this attack isn’t darkened to oblivion. In fact, it’s entirely untouched. The attacks collide, and we cut to the Sunnies. Bad End/Shadow Sunny uses her attack as well. Name Change: Bad End Sunny’s attack is Bad End Fire. Its dub counterpart is Shadow Force Fireball. Unfortunately, Sparkle Fire Inferno gets the darkening treatment. At least it isn't as severe as last time. 46 18 sunny fire burning 1.png|Cure Sunny: "Pretty Cuuuure!!" 46 19 sparkle fire inferno 1.png|Glitter Sunny: "Glitter Force!" 46 20 sunny fire burning 2.png 46 21 sparkle fire inferno 2.png 46 22 sunny fire burning 3.png|Cure Sunny: "Sunny Fire..." 46 23 sparkle fire inferno 3.png|Glitter Sunny: "Sparkle Fire..." 46 24 sunny fire burning 4.png|Cure Sunny: "...BURNING!!" 46 25 sparkle fire inferno 4.png|Glitter Sunny: "...INFERNO!!" 46 26 sunny fire burning 5.png 46 27 sparkle fire inferno 5.png 46 28 sunny fire burning 6.png|Bad End Sunny: *gasps* 46 29 sparkle fire inferno 6.png|Shadow Sunny: "Huh?" 46 30 sunny fire burning 7.png 46 31 sparkle fire inferno 7.png After Bad End Sunny gets torched, we cut to the Peaces. You know the drill by now. Name Change: '''Bad End Peace’s attack is '''Bad End Thunder. Its dub counterpart is Shadow Force Thunder Blow. Shadow Force Thunder Blow is darkened. 46 32 bad end thunder 1.png|Bad End Peace: "Time to say bye-bye!" 46 33 shadow force thunder blow 1.png|Shadow Peace: "Buh-bye now!" 46 34 bad end thunder 2.png|Bad End Peace: "Bad End Thunder!" 46 35 shadow force thunder blow 2.png|Shadow Peace: "Shadow Force Thunderbolt!" 46 36 bad end thunder 3.png 46 37 shadow force thunder blow 3.png Sticking to the formula, Peace uses Peace Thunder/Sparkle Lightning Hurricane, which is tinted green. Unlike Sparkle Fire Inferno, which was less darkened than its first appearance, Sparkle Lightning Hurricane is the same as last time, so I see no need to screencap repeated footage. We cut to the Marches/Springs. Rinse and repeat. Name Change: Bad End March’s attack is Bad End Shoot. Shadow Spring’s is Shadow Force Corner Kick. March/Spring performing March Shoot Impact/Sparkle Shot Maximum Impact is darkened. 46 38 march shoot impact 1.png|Cure March: "Pretty Cure!" 46 39 sparkle shot maximum impact 1.png|Glitter Spring: "Glitter Force Sparkle Shot..." 46 40 march shoot impact 2.png 46 41 sparkle shot maximum impact 2.png A shot of March spinning is removed. 46 42 cut march shoot impact.png|Cure March: "March Shoot..." And more darkening! 46 43 march shoot impact 3.png 46 44 sparkle shot maximum impact 3.png 46 45 march shoot impact 4.png|Cure March: "IMPACT!!" 46 46 sparkle shot maximum impact 4.png|Glitter Spring: "MAXIMUM IMPACT!!" 46 47 march shoot impact 5.png 46 48 sparkle shot maximum impact 5.png The darkening ends, for now at least, when Bad End March/Shadow Spring gets engulfed by the attack. After this, we cut to the Beauties/Breezes. Just one more! Name Change: Bad End Beauty’s attack is''' Bad End Blizzard'. Shadow Breeze’s is '''Shadow Force Avalanche'. Beauty says that she will fight for the futures of her loved ones and that she won’t let Bad End Beauty defeat her; Breeze gives a surprisingly sinister line saying that there is only room for one Glitter Breeze: herself. Breeze’s line is especially shocking since it echoes that of Bad End/Shadow Sunny saying that there is only room for one Cure/Glitter Sunny. Beauty/Breeze uses Beauty/Sparkle Blizzard Arrow. Oddly, as the arrow soars towards her, Evil Beauty/Breeze does absolutely nothing. She doesn’t even move or flinch! However, Glitter Breeze does get the particularly epic added line of, “Bullseye.” Meanwhile, Happy/Lucky is still struggling against her evil counterpart. Bad End Happy/Shadow Lucky tells Happy/Lucky to give up and accept her unhappy ending, but Happy/Lucky predictably refuses. Oddly, even though Happy/Lucky struggling at first isn’t darkened, her yelling at her clone is, as well as her strengthening her beam. 46 49 happy shower shining 1.png|Cure Happy: "That's not true! If we don't give in, we'll find our Ultra-Happy! That's why I'll keep pressing forward... AND I WON'T LET SOME NEGATIVE CLONE... STOP ME!!!" 46 50 sparkle storm shining 1.png|Glitter Lucky: "Heard that before! You Shadow goons keep trying to bring an unhappy ending to this world! When are you creeps gonna finally realize... it's never gonna happen on our watch!?" 46 51 happy shower shining 2.png 46 52 sparkle storm shining 2.png|Glitter Lucky: "NEVER!!" 46 53 happy shower shining 3.png 46 54 sparkle storm shining 3.png The good attack pushing the evil attack further away is left alone, but Happy/Lucky grunting and Bad End Happy/Shadow Lucky getting engulfed are not. 46 55 happy shower shining 4.png|Cure Happy: *SCREAMS* 46 56 sparkle storm shining 4.png|Glitter Lucky: *SCREAMS* 46 57 happy shower shining 5.png 46 58 sparkle storm shining 5.png 46 59 happy shower shining 6.png 46 60 sparkle storm shining 6.png Bad End Happy is silent as she gets hit; Shadow Lucky screams. Then, all five of the clones turn back into cards, which in turn become the last Cure Décor/Charm. This allows the originals to return to the real world. Joker/Rascal shouts his disbelief (Rascal starts earlier than Joker), and Pop celebrates. As Joker/Rascal says this can’t be happening, dialogue is added where Glitter Sunny says it can. Joker/Rascal further laments the failure of Bad End Pretty Cure/the Glitter Shadow Force, and Happy/Lucky says that her group will never lose to him. Then, there’s a moment with some particularly creepy facial animation where Joker/Rascal sobs for a bit and then laughs maniacally. Right before he starts laughing, dialogue is added where Rascal says, “Woe is me,” twice. Additionally, Happy says, “What?” while Lucky says, “Whoa. He’s lost it.” Joker/Rascal says that he’s already won. The Bad Energy Memory/Wheel of Doom reaches 99, and Joker/Rascal joyfully shouts that it’s finally time for Pierrot/Nogo to awaken (Joker stops speaking before Rascal does). The egg pulses and disappears. Then, the black ink the villains used to summon Bad Ends falls from the sky. A bit lands on Happy/Lucky’s cheek, but most of it lands on Joker/Rascal, covering him. It turns out, based on Joker/Rascal’s thankful cries, that Pierrot/Nogo is absorbing him. As he and the blank ink disappear, dialogue is added where Glitter Sunny says she won’t miss him. Way to ruin the mood. Then, a bunch of giant, hulking black things rise up from the earth. In the sub, there’s no dialogue as this happens; in the dub, Spring anticipates something coming and then the group panics about the giant, dark creature with huge claws and that there are multiple of them. Pop exclaims that the giants are the ones that first brought despair to Jubiland. In the dub, Glitter Peace says they might be friendly since the one in front of them is smiling, Pop wonders if Peace is being serious, and Peace says they seem friendly “if you squint.” Name Change: In the sub, the dark creatures are the Titans of Despair. In the dub, they’re Shadow Giants. Praying for a miracle, Pop puts the last Cure Décor/Glitter Charm (which is shaped like a crown, by the way) into the Décor Décor/Charm Chest. Then, the Miracle Jewel starts glowing. Happy/Lucky says Candy’s name, and Lucky asks what’s going on beforehand. The episode concludes with a shot of Candy’s eyes as she appears in her new human form. In the sub, there’s no dialogue as this happens; in the dub, Lucky says, “Candy?” and Candy groans. Overall: To be honest, this episode was kind of disappointing. I was looking forward to the girls fighting their clones, but the fighting was underwhelming. It’s sad, because the Pretty Cure ''franchise has done this concept much better twice before: once in the movie for ''Yes! Pretty Cure 5, and once in HeartCatch Pretty Cure. The two approaches were quite different. Yes 5’s Dark Pretty Cure 5 were evil clones of the main characters, and the groups engaged in some epic fighting with them that concluded with one of them being reformed, leading to one of the most emotional moments in the franchise. HeartCatch’s Mirage Pretty Cure, on the other hand, had the interesting twists of the clones representing the main characters’ insecurities. Not only were these fights also great, but they ended with the girls embracing their dark clones and becoming stronger people because of it. Smile tries to evoke the Yes! Pretty Cure 5 ''movie, but it fails because neither the clones nor the fights are good. Sure, Evil Happy/Lucky and Evil Peace reflect their counterparts well, but the other three seem generic (we don’t see Evil Sunny being energetic, Evil March/Spring wanting to protect her dark family, or Evil Beauty/Breeze viewing her vast intelligence as superior). The worst of these has to be Bad End Beauty, who goes on and on about how good-looking she is, a trait that doesn’t reflect Beauty in the slightest. It seems that the writers cared more about her name than her character, and I’m glad this was at least slightly improved in the dub. The shortcomings of the clones as characters would have been forgivable if they had put up a good fight. We’re nearing the end of the series, so the intensity should be picking up. But no, all we get is some dodging, the good guys getting beaten up, and a predictable pattern of long speeches and the girls using their finishers against each other. This episode wasn’t all bad, however. What it lacked in its evil clones, it made up for in its plot progression. We got several big reveals: the true purpose of the Miracle Jewel, what the bad guys intend to do with it, that the Royale Queen/Euphoria is dying, and that Candy is next in line. What’s more, while the clones are ultimately forgettable, Joker/Rascal remains an interesting and intimidating villain. His mannerisms are over-the-top, his facial expressions are creepy, and he isn’t defeated anywhere near as easily as his short-lived war machines. With the plot moving along at a steady rate, this episode ultimately remains just okay. '''Next time: 'Pretty Cure/the Glitter Force teams up with a powered-up Candy to take on Pierrot/Nogo! Category:Blog posts